Chanyeol POV

Minah starts crying on the bus.

I cough uneasily and look away, out the slightly foggy window of the city bus.

How exactly are you supposed to react when your worst enemy is bawling her eyes out beside you?

She's a mess. Her hair’s all unkempt from that sick creeper groping his hands all over it, her mascara’s running, and her eyes are bloodshot.

Why did she even come to Slappy’s Arcade in the first place? Was she trying to look for me?

But why?

“Minah, what were you doing there anyway?” I ask stiffly. “Were you trying to stalk me after I left the party?”

She sniffles. “Y-You weren’t even supposed to leave the party. Mr. Lee Soo Man said that if you didn’t come back, there would be severe consequences, so I tried to bring you back…,”

A pang or remorse hits me straight in the gut.

If it weren’t for my stupidity, my unwillingness to sit through a silly party that would've only lasted a few hours, then Minah wouldn’t have gone to Slappy’s.

If she hadn’t gone to Slappy’s then she wouldn’t have been harassed and hurt by those guys.

I clench my fists angrily and grit my teeth.

“I’m taking you home,” I tell her in a tight voice.

She whirls around and looks at me with wide eyes. “No! We have to go back to the party otherwise you’ll get in trouble!”

“Have you looked at yourself? You’re in no shape to go back to the party,” I inform her bluntly. “I’m taking you home.”

Minah tries to protest again but I silence her with a glare.

We wait a little longer on the bus, and finally she stands up. “This is my stop,” she whispers.

I follow her out the bus, past the stop. We walk for what seems like forever until we arrive at a row of decrepit old house. Minah walks all the way down to the house on the end of the row.

Its yellow paint is peeling off and the shingles are half-attached.

There is a ading sense of poverty around this place.

This can't be her house.

“You… can go now,” she tells me quietly. “Tell Lee Soo Man that you were helping me home. I’ll back you up.”

As much as I want to go, I don’t think that would be the right thing to do. I take another look at Minah.

Her hands are shaking and she’s all pale and clammy and-

“Just open the door. I’ll take you inside.” I tell her, trying to move past her and into the house but she blocks the door with her arms.

“Um, that’s really not necessary,” she says weakly. “Just go-,”

I push past her and open the door.

I’m greeted with a single, large room, equipped with only a dirty shag carpet and a few mats.

A small black table sits in the corner.

A few small doors are on the right of the room, presumably leading to a bathroom and a kitchen and maybe a bedroom.

The walls are stained with what looks like soot.

This is where Minah lives?

But... she... she can't.

I think back to my own dorm, with its shiny windows and sleek sofas and new stainless steel appliances sitting in the kitchen.

It's such a stark contrast to her residence.  

She looks away from me ashamedly, biting her lip. Suddenly, a small figure runs out of one of the doors and exclaims, “NOONA!”

It’s Won Bin.

“Hi, Won Binnie. Did you eat?” Minah asks him, patting his head. He shrugs.

“One of my friends bought me some ddukboki,” he says. “It was great!” Suddenly he notices me standing behind Minah. “CHAN-CHAN HYUNG!” he shrieks, and runs towards me. I catch him in a flying leap.      

"Hey Won Binnie,” I smile, squeezing him. “How’ve you been?”

“Good! I’ve been practicing your tricks,” he grins enthusiastically.

“Great!” I exclaim. 

How come I never noticed that Won Bin's so thin? Guilt tears at my insides. I should've paid more attention or something-

Now I know why Minah didn’t want me to take her home.

“Thank you for taking me home,” she tells me softly. “Won Binnie, can- can unnie just have a word with Chan-Chan hyung outside?”

Won Bin nods, running off to his room. “Bye Chan-Chan hyung!” he yells.

As soon as he’s out of sight Minah grabs my hand and leads me out the door. It’s pitch black outside; only the dim light of her house provides some light outside. She takes a deep breath and faces me.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re thinking,” Minah says, her voice trembling, “but if you- if you try to spread this around or hold it against me-,”

“I won’t,” I tell her in a low voice. “I wouldn’t do that.”  

Minah runs a hand through her hair tiredly. “And also… thank you. For taking me home. For… being so nice to Won Bin. You’re like a brother to him.”

“It’s nothing,” A strange feeling is swelling up in my stomach. It feels like… compassion.

Am I actually starting to feel compassionate for my worst enemy?

Suddenly my phone buzzes.

Crap. It must be Exo or Lee Soo Man, desperately trying to find out where I am.

I better leave.

“I’ll see you at school on Monday,” I tell Minah, and I walk away from her and her house, my hands in my pockets, seemingly nonchalant.

But affected on the inside.